SELVA DI VAL GARDENA, Italy – The race began on a shortened course under overcast skies with no significant wind. Ultimately, Vincent Kriechmayr added a Val Gardena downhill victory to his growing list of career accomplishments.

There was quite a bit of competition among the early bibs. Germany’s Josef Ferstl, bib three, crossed in first and held the lead until bib seven, when downhill World Cup leader Aleksander Aamodt Kilde finished with a better time. Kilde was 0.02 seconds quicker than Ferstl. However, he did not have the dominant time his competitors feared. Kilde barely made it to the leader’s chair before bib eight, Mathias Mayer, skied 0.13 seconds faster. After the first ten racers finished, it appeared that it was finally a Austrian men’s downhill day. Not only did they have the leader Kriechmayr, but Olympic champion Mayer was sitting in third.

After Kriechmayr’s run, no one threatened the three at the top of the standings. Austria had a victory including two on the podium. World Cup overall leader Marco Odermatt split the Austrians, finishing second. Only 0.13 seconds separated the podium skiers. 

Kriechmayr’s continued success

Kriechmayr swept the downhill and super-G titles at the 2021 world championships in nearby Cortina d’Ampezzo. Then last season he won the downhill in Wengen, Switzerland, with controversial circumstances after missing the official training runs because he was in quarantine with COVID-19.

This was Kriechmayr’s 13th career World Cup win and his sixth in downhill. He won the super-G on the Saslong in 2019.

Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, who won the opening two downhills of the season, ended the day in fifth, 0.26 out. He pointed to starting from the lower super-G start as the reason for the tight margins.

The leaders share thoughts

“I tried to keep 2% back just to get out more speed after the ciaslat and I think that’s why I’m in the lead, because I was pretty fast in the last part of the race,” Kriechmayr said. “Because it’s a sprint, you have to keep pushing from start to finish.”

Almost amazingly at the first tv break, Kilde was in fifth, but only 0.26 behind Kriechmayr. The shortened race was going to be tight. Unfortunately, bib 15, US’s Ryan Cochran-Siegle could not put himself into the lead-changing mix and crossed in 10th, 0.61 seconds back. The US’s best-ranked downhiller finished the day 14th. 

“You definitely have to put it all on the line and execute every section,” said Ryan Cochran-Siegle. “It’s a very cool course, we Americans love to ski here.” 

It was Odermatt’s first time racing downhill in Val Gardena.

“I really didn’t know if I could score points, top 10, or podium,” he said. “I had really no idea. It’s perfect. It shows the timing and high flow and everything is working at the moment.”

Odermatt had planned to skip the regularly scheduled downhill on Saturday to rest for the giant slaloms — his best discipline — Sunday and Monday in nearby Alta Badia.

“Now I have to rethink again,” he said.

Calm before the attack from the back

The rapid change in the top ten seemed to calm after the first tv break until bib 38.

Then came USA’s Sam Morse. The biggest North American story of the day. Morse likes Val Gardena. It is the only race where he has scored previous World Cup points. This year Morse did it again, arriving at the finish in ninth place. Morse has gone from two NorAm victories in Copper Mountain last week to a top-ten World Cup result in the Beaver Creek replacement race. Morse finished the day in 10th place.

“It’s such a confirmation of all the hard work I put in. There’s a lot of tough days out on the hill,” said Morse. “To finally have one come together, and in Val Gardena, it’s such a sweet spot for Americans so I’m stoked.” 

“It was an incredible day and hopefully stands as a testament to keep believing in yourself and putting in the work to achieve your dreams.”

However, Val Gardena is known for providing opportunities for the later bibs and Morse was not the last one to take advantage. Nils Allegre of France skiing with bib 51 skied faster than Morse. Allegre had won the training run and now found himself in eighth place.

Val Gardena saw four athletes with start numbers higher than 30 finish in the top 15. The last starter to finish inside the top 15 was bib 55, Italian Florian Schieder, 13th. Ten athletes with bibs higher than 30 scored points. Finlands Elian Lehto bib 65 had the highest start number. He finished 20th. These are Lehto’s first World Cup points, and he showed his excitement at the finish.

North Americans

Jeff Read deserves attention; although Read finished well behind the leader, he was reeling the leader in and was third fastest to the third split. Perhaps because he was carrying speed beyond his previous experience, he then made a big mistake and took himself out of the race. Regardless of the outcome, Read is developing rapidly as an elite World Cup athlete.

Six North Americans finished inside the top 30, with the best being Canada’s James Crawford in seventh. The others were all US athletes. Unfortunately, a stellar result eluded the US skiers. However, it was a good team result.  Val Gardena again proved to be US-friendly; five skiers scoring World Cup points, two in the top 15, is respectable for any team. It is the US men’s best team performance this season. Hopefully, they will build on their momentum throughout the rest of the week.

“Good day, but not what we are capable of on our best day. Young guys did well considering their limited experience on the track- learning. Sam skied very well,” said the Men’s Stifel US Alpine Speed Team Head Coach, Randy Pelkey. “I think we are building. Good attitude and push. Could not afford to make a mistake in today’s sprint.”

Analysis of top three and North Americans in the top 30 and top 30 results and current DH standings

Top 30 results Val Gardena-Gröden Saslong downhill short course 12/15/22

Current World Cup downhill standings

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned for updates.